Thursday, March 28, 2013

I remember talks several years ago with Mike Aimone, then an SES and big cheese of Air Force installations and logistics on a workable definition of energy security. After a stint at Battelle, he's back in DOD as Director, Business Enterprise Integration ODUSD (AT&L)/I&E (BEI) (thanks to Scott Sklar for the correction). Nevertheless, the Air Force's search to define and deliver energy security goes on.

USAF has just released its 2013 Energy Plan, its first revision to the 2010 edition, and it addresses all the right topics, albeit at very high, and highly polished, level. Included is this sidebar on Installation Energy Security:

Friday, March 22, 2013

In the midst of the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the
future of DOD energy, one of the innovative ideas of the Navy seemed to run
aground on the shoals of Senate trepidation.
Senator Toomey (R-Pa) submitted amendments to the continuing resolution
that would cut
funding to the Navy biofuel program.
Apparently, Toomey was not happy about Tobyhanna’s loss of 400+ civilian
contractors in the coming weeks due to sequestration.

According to ASD,OEPP Sharon Burke’s Facebook page there is good
news! She is thanking the Senate for
keeping DOD energy options open, vis-à-vis biofuels. And yes, I get most of my news from Facebook
and Jon Stewart. I know this will draw the ire of those old salty dogs who don’t
want to see their Navy used to “experiment”, so we can await their comments.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Hat tip to IBM colleague Tim F for sending this our way. As he says, could this be the successor to the once mighty GovEnergy (RIP)? Not sure, but it may be worth keeping an eye on.

Some of the topics it will cover include:

Federal energy priorities, programs, and contracts, featuring the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and other federal agencies

Saturday, March 2, 2013

From multiple sources, the threat (and since March 1st, the reality) of sequester-driven DOD budget cuts has put many energy related initiatives on hold. In some cases, it's full stop for the foreseeable project. In others, there's an expectation that things will keep going but will be at reduced speed.

Not complaining, mind you. While energy security is top of mind for this blog, military planners clearly have bigger and more pressing concerns at this moment. Energy will have to take a back seat until sequester and other budget-related issues are sorted out.

There are exceptions of course, with some energy projects still motoring on. But since the inception of the DOD Energy Blog in the summer of 2008, hot on the heals of the 2008 Defense Science Board report on Energy, we've never seen a lull like this one.

Let's hope energy gets the green flag again soon. And BTW, if your experience of the sequester's impact on DOD Energy is markedly different than the way I've characterized it here, plus make comment or drop an email and we'll revise accordingly. Thanks. Andy

BlogCatalog

StatCounter

RSS Feeds

Contributors

Sister Blog on Electric Grid Cyber Security

DOD Operational Energy

click logo for official home page

About

This blog tracks the energy challenges facing the US Department of Defense in the early 21st century. Drawing from the best thinking inside and outside the Pentagon, it examines problems and identifies possible short, medium and long term solutions in technology and policy.

Andy Bochman runs the DOD Energy Blog and can be reached at andybochman at gmail dot com